Re: Rand and Romanticism

Max More (max@maxmore.com)
Mon, 25 Oct 1999 10:59:51 -0700

At 10:23 AM 10/23/99 -0700, you wrote:

>> >I do fear, as I've mentioned on this list before, that conscious attempts
>to
>> >create art movements usually backfire.
>>
>> A myth to be debunked. Never head of one backfiring,
>
>Socialist realism, which is mostly slop.

Coming from an individualist, this may sound odd, but I've always *liked* socialist realism. There are some fantastically powerful and optimistic and pro-technology sculptures and structures in Russia (such as the soaring edifice honoring Tsoliovsky (sorry if I butchered the spelling here), and I like the bold, heroic portrayals of workers.

I found it hilarious back in the early '80s, when the libertarian influence was growing among young student members of the conservative party, when a newsletter came out with a socialist realist style cover. It looked just like a heroically bold picture of Lenin, but showed a tough working class guy holding a copy of one of Friedrich Hayek's books.

Apparently one person's slop is another's spice!

Max